President Joseph Kabila has taken 90 percent of the vote in the eastern provinces of North Kivu, Maniema and Katanga.

But he managed only 16 percent in the capital, Kinshasa, where his chief rival, Vice-President Jean-Pierre Bemba, appears to have swept the board.

The results betray Congo's deep divisions. Bemba is a former rebel. He is loathed in the eastern provinces which suffered most from the civil war he fought. So Kabila won handsomely in the east. But his corrupt and divided government has done nothing for Kinshasa or for the few regions of western Congo which are genuinely under its control. Moreover, Kabila does not speak Lingala, the main language in this area. So the people here voted for Bemba as the most credible stop-Kabila candidate.

Final results are expected on August 20, although the announcement may be brought forward to Tuesday. The most likely outcome is that Kabila will be narrowly ahead of Bemba overall, but with less than 50 percent of the total vote. A second round will then take place in October.